Walter Isaacson on Bill Gates at Harvard

That was a fascinating read. The difference that makes the difference appears to be Gate's ability to focus sharply and in-depth and dedicate himself to that purpose. Notable from this piece is his ability to 'think different'. It's a challenging strategy for success which few can dedicate themselves too.

This piece by Malcolm Gladwell in the Guardian similarly covers 'think different' strategies - in this instance using examples of high achievers with Dyslexia or who were early orphans, and the strategies they construct to survive and thrive. http://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/sep/28/blessed-weak-...

My takeaway: launch fast from the bleeding-edge.

That makes me wonder — what is the edge today? What would be the equivalent of the Altair and the BASIC interpreter? What would be today's intersection of new hardware and old software?

The Oculus Rift comes mind. There's been some interesting work to bring the Rift to the masses through the Web:

https://github.com/Instrument/oculus-bridge